


Healed For Me

by trispitas



Series: Heaven Doesn't Want Me [4]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Marriage Proposal, POV Erik Klose, Post-Canon, Romance, Soft Neil Josten, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28540080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trispitas/pseuds/trispitas
Summary: Erik flies to South Carolina ready to ask the biggest question of his entire life.He certainly doesn't expect a ghost from his past coming back to life right then.
Relationships: Neil Josten & Erik Klose, Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose
Series: Heaven Doesn't Want Me [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087022
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Healed For Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leigh_0001](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leigh_0001/gifts).



> Here it come Erik's reaction after finding out what become of Stephan.   
> Hope it meets the expectatives. I did my very best :D

The flight was going as smooth as anyone could wish, yet the turbulence was inside of him. 

It wasn’t the first time Erik flown to visit Nicky, but he was restless as if they were meeting for the first time. He had tried to sleep, to watch movies, listen to music. Everything was useless as miles keeping Erik away from his lover decreased. He had read every single magazine in front of his seat and the one beside, but his heart kept bumping frantically between his ribs. 

Resigned, Erik picked the  Exy magazine he had ignored despite his nerves. He wasn’t a big fan of the sport even though Nicky and his cousins played. He didn’t mind watching it either, but if he got to choose, anything outdoors came before the violent hunt for a ball inside a plexiglass cage.

Erik picked at the pages absentmindedly, day-dreaming of the things he’ll do once out of the plane and close to Nicky. Besides, he didn’t know half the names and faces printed on the mag. He could recognize a few ones though, like Kevin Day with his rare tattoo, but only because Nicky had rambled endlessly about how hot the guy was in person, not because of his fame in the  Exy world.

He kept going through the pages reading paragraphs here and there until he stumbled with a picture that stroke him. It was a boy with the coldest stare and auburn hair.  _ Neil Josten: The weight of being a rising star running from his criminal past _ . 

Of course, Nicky had told him  _ everything _ about Neil. From his awful taste with clothes to the big fuss over his mob boss father and the thing he had going on with Andrew, but it wasn’t that what had shaken Erik. However, he couldn’t put his finger on what put to sleep the uneasiness from the journey to make him feel familiar with the picture of the boy with the terrifying stare.

Erik couldn’t finish the article. The plane landed and he was almost drowned in the waves of people coming and going. In that moment, he couldn’t be happier about his height, not only because he could breathe, but also because he was able to spot Nicky almost as soon as he got on the stairs.

As Erik became a puddle of love by the sight of his loving partner, he could finally release the breath he was holding since he got up in the plane.

“Erik! Erik! Ahhhh!” 

Yes, that was his loud man. Erik was almost complete.

They hugged and kissed and hugged again and Erik would’ve been delighted to keep kissing Nicky in the middle of the airport, unfortunately, the man was already talking endlessly about anything and everything. They walked together holding hands, not caring at all about the couple strange looks shot to them and the German allowed himself to be guided onto a black Maserati. A real, actual Maserati. Nicky wasn’t making it up.

Marveling at the beautiful beast while listening to Nicky made Erik’s nerves fade away completely. There was nothing to fear. It was just the two of them, as they had always been. 

“So, here’s the thing,” Nicky turned serious as they approached the house on Columbia. Erik feared for a bit his boyfriend’s tone, he was not ready for bad news. In fact, Erik was thinking more of a dinner. “Remember I’ve talked to you about Neil and Andrew being together? Well, Neil has-” Nicky motioned his hand to his face in circles, short of words for the first time since Erik could recall “He’s so pretty but you know about the scars, so please,  _ please  _ don’t stare. You know how is Andrew. I don’t want to spend our first day of holidays together on the E.R. okay?”

“Don’t worry. I only have eyes for you Nicholas”.

“Don’t call me that while I’m driving babe, you know how bad it turns me on!”

Erik finally laughed. This was Nicky, his Nicky. He couldn’t be happier. His nerves were only an overreaction.

***

The house seemed empty when they arrived, so Erik and Nicky were able to get the blond man settled and then they started prepping dinner. 

It was amazing that no matter the time they spend apart, both were able to be moving as one in the kitchen, just like they did when they shared a roof on Stuttgart. As minutes went by, Erik wondered for the  hundredth time why he had stayed behind when he could be enjoying Nicky’s savage kisses and soft giggles every single night of his life. 

Before his palms could sweat with anticipation, a tiny golden strike dressed in pitch black materialized in the freezer. Erik almost jumps out of his skin. He would never ever be used to the rudeness in his posture, the danger that resonated from every single fiber of the twin’s body. Even if Nicky hadn’t said beforehand that Aaron was spending the summer with his girlfriend, Erik wouldn’t have mistaken the two of them. He was scared of both, but Andrew was the one who would skin him alive anytime.

“Hey cuz! Look who finally made it! Now we can have a double date! Why don’t you tell Neil to come? You don’t mind if we spend our first night with them, or you babe?”

Andrew spared a single bored stare to Erik before turning back to his cousin. He had a tube of ice-cream and a spoon in one hand was putting a bag of chips on top of the carton to extend his free hand towards Nicky.

“Keys.”

Nicky held out the car keys before insisting again. “Are you at least going to think about it? We must get along if we are becoming family!”

“No.”

The small devil vanished as he appeared. Erik’s stomach was rolling but it got nothing to do with Andrew’s menacing gaze. It was more because of Nicky’s last statement. 

This night would have to pass without any more emotions if Erik wanted to reach the end of his stay as he planned.

***

When Erik opened his eyes, it was that time of night when he couldn’t tell if it was extremely late or ridiculously early. In the end, it didn’t matter. He couldn’t sleep anymore as plans were overflooding his thoughts. He needed coffee, his laptop, and get away from Nicky’s soft snores before he woke his beautiful man to do something filthy.

The coffee pot was easy to understand, so the coffee was ready in minutes. Erik poured the black treasure in the biggest mug he could find and felt the caress of the warm smoke before taking the first sip. 

Yes, coffee couldn’t fail in either side of the world. Now he was ready to start his search on the web. He walked towards the counter and almost spills the delicious elixir all over him as he heard a small tornado behind. It took Erik precious seconds to recover-or think of his final words-when the kitchen lights turned to life, revealing not Andrew, but a lean body crowned with a mess of auburn hair. 

Erik didn’t need Nicky there to notice why his boyfriend had been so flipped about the boy. He was pretty indeed. At least from the back. Erik’s heart was barely returning to normal speed by admiring Josten’s behinds when the boy gave a turn, and Erik’s pulse went frantic again as the  Exy player almost drops his own mug. 

There was no denying that all of Nicky’s praises for Neil’s appearance were correct, but the thing that stroke Erik about the guy wasn’t his rough beauty or his terrible scars, all of which he had been warned in advance. It was something in his frame. Something that brought back memories of his first months living alone after Nicky had returned to take care of the twins. Something that made Erik wonder of autumn leaves and quiet company in the loneliness that followed Nicky’s absence.

Neil took a shaky breath. Two. The mug in his scarred hands trembled, but he didn’t say anything. For some reason, Erik was feeling the need to pull him closer, hold him,  _ shelter  _ him. Was it because the things Nicky had told him? He had never felt that for neither of the twins, and they both certainly deserved some love. Was that because of the unfinished article on the magazine? 

Regardless, Erik cut himself short before approaching. Neil had exactly that look that his boyfriend had tried to describe so many times before, and Andrew’s deadly stare from the day before was still lingering on his mind. He didn’t want to spend his time in the E.R. only for a strange impulse.

“Can’t sleep either?” Erik finally could find his voice with a question that didn’t give him away.

Neil denied with his head. He was calculating, analyzing. His icy eyes went from Erik to the laptop behind a couple times. The blond felt the need to talk. It was like he knew Neil, like he could trust him.

“I-I’m looking for fancy restaurants around. Do you know anyone that’s good?”

By the look on his face, Erik was certain that his question would be held unanswered, however, after a couple minutes and a few shaky sips of his coffee, the red-haired talked with raspy voice.

“I don’t. But Nicky always talks about this place on the outskirts. McSwiney’s, I think?”

“Do you know how to spell it?”

There it was again. That look. Erik knew it from somewhere besides Nicky’s vivid descriptions. 

Josten approached slow, carefully. Erik didn’t understand why he was so cautious. His father had been a gang leader and he was dating the scariest person Erik had ever met. The boy didn’t have any reason to be afraid of him. Not even if Nicky had told them how pissed Erik could get when he couldn’t find his socks after doing laundry. That wasn’t something to be afraid of after being raised by criminals, was it?

The trembling of his fingers was poorly disguised as Neil tapped the name on the browser. He didn’t turn to look at Erik, but the shape of his nose, the way his jaw was tensed. Erik knew it and it wasn’t from Nicky’s tales or magazines.

“There. That’s the one.”

Before Erik could thank Neil, the front door was closing, and only an empty mug was left behind.

***

Turned out the restaurant suggested by Neil was crowded and it needed reservation with at least one week in advance. Erik was so thankful he had time to prepare. 

It was hard to keep a straight face all the time, especially when he wanted so bad to rush the moment and get over with the tension, but Nicky’s enthusiasm showing him the surroundings was enough to drive him back on track and be reminded over and over why he was so in love with that man. 

If he had waited so many years to find him, he could wait a bit more to have him.

That was so much easier said than done though. Mostly at night. The jet lag was driving Erik crazy and he couldn't sleep most nights. Some of them, Nicky would notice and they used their time in some interesting activities they both had missed, but others, when his lovely boyfriend was snoring low and Erik was afraid to speak before the right time came, he would get up to his laptop, and find Neil before his morning run.

They hadn’t talked since Erik’s first morning. Neil was slippery and very good avoiding Erik. And Erik despite his crumbling nerves, had been trying to remember with no success until the day to man up and go along with his plans came.

Rain had had no mercy all night until the first rays of sun were fighting to filter through drawn curtains. Neil appeared from the hallway as the other days, except this time, he was struggling to fix his rain jacket before stepping outside. The fast, exact moves, the frustrated twitch of his mouth as the sleeve escaped from his hand made things click. 

“Stephan.”

Neil flinched so hard at the sound he dropped the jacket to the floor and gave Erik that deer-in-the-headlights look of the first day they met on the kitchen. 

“Sorry. The way you were standing reminded me of a friend I had.” Neil’s breath was jagged. Erik didn’t understand why, but as soon as he said the name, all the memories were back on place. 

The scrawny kid from the airport. His friend from the park. He was always jumpy and scared. He had that same look that Neil had right now. All cautious, ready to flee any moment. How could Erik forget someone like that? It had been Stephan's company and the hours he had listened to Erik’s stories what made him get finally sort of used to being far from Nicky. 

It was a shame that Stephan had disappeared suddenly. From his looks, the way he behaved and the little he said despite his ability to speak German and French fluently, Erik was afraid the boy hadn’t made it. He was a good kid regardless of the rough edges, just like Neil. Erik wondered, if he had sticked closer to Stephan, would’ve been able to save him, just like Nicky had done with his cousins?

“Friend?”

The question was so quiet and Erik was so lost in the memories of that time, that he could hear it in Stephan’s voice. He never believed when Erik called him a friend and told him about going together to visit Nicky. Erik looked back at Neil and there it was, the same naked expression of fear and vulnerability that Erik had wanted to erase from Stephan so desperately. 

It was then when he noticed the question had been really asked. 

By Stephan’s voice. 

In other language.

But it couldn’t be. 

There was no chance that Neil Josten,  Exy striker extraordinaire, friend of his beloved Nicky, boyfriend of the scary Andrew Minyard, was scared, abused, cautious Stephan. Not even when they shared so much. Erik looked better at Neil while he hurried to put on his raincoat before rushing to the exit.

“Stephan?”

Neil stopped in his tracks, hand in the doorknob. He didn’t turn to look at Erik while he talked but he sounded guilty.

“You remember?” he asked in French, probably to avoid Andrew or Nicky from hearing.

“ Of course I do! You disappeared without a word. I thought... I thought the worst. But here you are. I can’t believe it’s you.”

Neil turned to meet his gaze. The weight of those years slumped his shoulders. “I was found and I put you in danger.” His words sounded like an apology.

“Nonsense. Don’t beat yourself for the past. I thought I’ll never see you again. I’ll make coffee, we need to catch up.”

***

Once Erik recovered his long-lost friend he could relax for a while, but nerves hit renewed as hours went by. 

Nicky was starting to change between his usual happiness to being pouty because Erik’s time on South Carolina was almost over, but they had used every possible second to their advantage, and after Andrew and Nicky knew he had known Neil before, tension ceased with the twin, so he could enjoy better the time, without being afraid that the little menace would stab him for no reason any time.

And night arrived. 

He was a mess of shivers and unjustified bellyaches, and he had only a couple hours to get ready. Nicky was certain that Neil would convince Andrew to join them on a double date and the man was babbling about it, because apparently, it’ll be Neil’s and Andrew’s first date ever. Erik wouldn’t mind the company any other night, but this one, this one was for them. 

Although Nicky didn’t know yet and neither of the three other men had any good reasons to spoil the joy. Not even the deadly blond, who with a little push from Neil, was driving them to the place Erik reserved. Neil and Andrew dropped the happy couple at the entrance, and Andrew hit the gas as soon as the door closed, leaving Nicky truly disappointed until he saw where they were heading and got completely derailed believing again in the double date.

By the time the main dish arrived, Nicky had finally stopped waiting for Neil and Andrew to come back from parking the car, and picked the mood of their romantic dinner. 

Erik had planned to skip dessert and wait until they were out to ask, so Nicky’s screams-either good or bad-wouldn’t scare the whole place, so when Erik caught a glance of a big cup of ice cream coming his way, he tried to cut the waiter. He didn’t need a mistake like this to bring down his night. 

Erik barely had a chance to stop himself when he saw the shiny  ring he had had safe in his pocket since his arrival. His hands flown to the inner pocket of his suit jacket only to find it empty.  Of course it was empty. The jewel was topping the ice cream presented in front of Nicky. 

It was a simple silver ring. Nothing fancy despite Nicky’s taste, but its shine caught his boyfriend’s eye immediately. 

“Erik? Babe... what’s... what’s this?”

Before answering, a big smile broke free. Neil had told him he wanted to gift him a ticket to see Nicky back when they were in Germany, so this must had been his doing now that Erik had come on his own. Neil’s and Andrew’s, judging by the ice-cream. His friend had helped him way more than what he could’ve ever dreamed of. 

It was perfect.

“A proposal.” Erik dried the sweat on his palms before taking Nicky’s hands in his. The man before him had run out of words, and Erik wasn’t wasting his chance. He came all the way from Germany for this. “Nicholas Hemmick, will you spend the rest of your life by my side?”

The “Yes” that his loud, beautiful boyfriend gave Erik didn’t scared the full restaurant. 

It was heard in the whole street.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You already made my day (and night).  
> Thoughts? Feelings? Requests? Questions? Comment below and tell me what you want to read next :D 
> 
> You can find me and more AFTG / TRC on [@trispitas](https://www.instagram.com/trispitas/) and [@doodlingstuff](https://doodlingstuff.tumblr.com/).  
> See you there!


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